Accused appears in court in Eugene Terreblanche murder trial

The accused, Chris Mahlungu, arrives at court ahead of the first day of the murder trial of the white supremacist Afrikaner Resistance Movement leader (AWB) Eugene TerreBlanche at the Ventersdorp Magistrate courthouse in South Africa on May 3. TerreBlanche, the founder of the AWB, was bludgeoned and hacked to death on April 3, 2010 at his farm outside Ventersdorp.

Peroshni Govender of Reuters reports from Ventersdorp, South Africa:The start of the trial of two black farm workers accused of murdering South African white supremacist leader Eugene Terreblanche was delayed on Tuesday to give a defendant more time to consult lawyers.

Chris Mahlangu, 28, a gardener at Terreblanche's farm, and a 15-year-old (not identified for legal reasons), were charged in the April 2010 murder that highlighted continuing racial tensions -- 17 years after the end of the apartheid system, and a system that Terreblanche had fought to preserve.

Terreblanche, who led the hardline supremacist Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB), was battered and hacked to death and many worried at first that the killing could spark racial violence.

But police said the motive for the crime was likely unpaid wages rather than anything political.

The case has served as a reminder of the bitter country's divisions, but did little to fan the flames of racial strife in the country now dubbed the "Rainbow Nation".

There was a heavy security presence at the courtroom, about 75 miles west of Johannesburg, with about a dozen AWB supporters, clad in khaki uniforms with the organization's swastika-like insignia, outside the building.